Monday Morning Update

March 30, 2015

Craving the Unknown: When Abigail McDermott ’15 arrived in Croatia last year to study abroad, she was a stranger in an unfamiliar land. But, at Dubrovnik International University, she immersed herself in her studies and travelled widely in the Balkans and Europe. The marketing major credits that experience with giving her “newfound self-confidence” and, as a result, she is more self-reliant. As she explains, “I can travel anywhere now without much worry. I also don’t fear the unknown but instead crave it. I go on job interviews confident in myself and have learned to market my experience in a way that employers see beneficial.” For more on McDermott, who has secured a sales position with W.B. Mason for when she graduates, visit here.

Motivating Advice: Working with the state’s Disabled Persons Protection Commission, Jamey Breen ’14 wants to be a trainer for its Awareness and Action program, educating people with disabilities, and others, about the abuse of those with disabilities. A healthcare administration major, Breen, who was born with cerebral palsy, is also a motivational speaker. When asked recently what he’d say to people who doubt themselves, he replied, “…success comes to those people who can highlight the things they can do rather than the things they can’t. The reality is everyone has limitations, regardless of having a disability or not. So focus on your strengths while always working to improve in your weaker areas.” For more on Breen, visit here.

UCLA Appointment: The University of California, Los Angeles has announced that Ellen Sletten ’06 will join its Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry as an Assistant Professor. At UCLA, Sletten will focus her research on analytical chemistry, biophysics, materials & nanoscience, and organic chemistry. As an outstanding chemistry major at Stonehill, Sletten was a Barry Goldwater Scholarship recipient in her junior and senior years and received both the William C. LaPlante Memorial Scholarship and American Institute of Chemists Award during her senior year. She worked closely with Professor Louis Liotta and participated regularly in the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program.

Global Poverty: English major Joseph D’Amore ’16 just became a staff writer for the Oxford Student, the student newspaper at the University of Oxford in England where he is studying English and philosophy. Looking ahead, D’Amore, who is considering journalism as a career, is applying for a summer internship with the Borgen Project, a national campaign that works with U.S. leaders to improve their response to global poverty, a passionate cause for him. In fact, in a recent essay for his local paper the Newburyport News, D’Amore examined the link between poverty and international terrorism. To read his analysis, visit here.

Talk Show: In her senior year, communication major Osasu Igbinedion ’13 interned with MGM Studios in Los Angeles, working on projects like the launch of MGM's hit series Vikings. Igbinedion earned a master’s at Northeastern University in 2014 but returned home to Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, and, since March 10, she has been hosting a weekly talk show on African Independent Television, a satellite station in Lagos. On the show, she interviews top politicians, entrepreneurs, and public figures. To see The Osasu Show, visit here.

Team Spirit: A semifinal defeat in the 2012 Northeast-10 Championship ended a promising season for women’s lacrosse. For an inside look at how our female athletes challenged themselves and matured as a team during that roller-coaster season, check out 113 Days. It is a documentary by filmmaker Katie Shannon ’04 and, each week for the next ten weeks, a new episode can be seen on YouTube. A member of the women’s lacrosse team that won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2003, Shannon currently teaches in the Communications Department. For more on 113 Days, visit here.

Boston Means Business: We note the participation of trustee and alumnus Bob Rivers ’86 in last week’s public forum on the economic landscape of Boston. The event, which included Mayor Marty Walsh, worked to foster fruitful relationships between minority businesses and government and corporate entities as well wealth creation and how it can come up out of the city’s communities of color. A finance major, Rivers is the President of Eastern Bank, the largest independent, mutually owned bank in New England.